Literature Classes in Different Types of German Secondary Schools—Insights into Learning Objectives and Teaching Quality

Full text

Literature Classes in Dierent Types of
German Secondary Schools
Insights into Learning Objectives and Teaching Quality
Marco Magirius & Daniel Scherf
SIG ROLE Seminar “Literary development reconsidered:
Perceiving literary education in an ethical frame”,
FU Berlin.
21.09.2023

Literature Classes in DierentTypes of German Secondary Schools
Contents
Introduction
Literature Classes in Dierent Types of Germans Secondary
Schools: Two Exploratory Studies
A Quantifying Perspective on Learning Objectives
High-Level Comprehension of Literary Texts
Preliminary Conclusion

Literature Classes in DierentTypes of German Secondary Schools
Introduction
Contents
Introduction
Literature Classes in Dierent Types of Germans Secondary
Schools: Two Exploratory Studies
Preliminary Conclusion

Literature Classes in DierentTypes of German Secondary Schools
Introduction
Research Question
What are the dierences between literature classes in
various types of German secondary schools concerning
a) the learning objectives and b) the teaching quality?
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Literature Classes in DierentTypes of German Secondary Schools
Introduction
CfP of the SIG Seminar
“Encounters with literature are expected to contribute to
personal growth and social awareness. Also, literature
education is expected to strengthen participation and
democratic citizenship through dealing with literature.”
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Literature Classes in DierentTypes of German Secondary Schools
Introduction
System of Secondary Schools in Germany
•
Hauptschule: lower secondary eduction for below average
students (without academic track)
•Realschule: lower secondary eduction (without academic
track)
•Gymnasium: lower and upper secondary eduction with
academic track.
Selection takes place in almost all federal states
after the fourth grade.
3/32

Literature Classes in DierentTypes of German Secondary Schools
Introduction
System of Secondary Schools in Germany
•
Hauptschule: lower secondary eduction for below average
students (without academic track)
•Realschule: lower secondary eduction (without academic
track)
•Gymnasium: lower and upper secondary eduction with
academic track.
Selection takes place in almost all federal states
after the fourth grade.
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Literature Classes in DierentTypes of German Secondary Schools
Introduction
Social-Economic Dierences
1. In Germany, secondary education depends on the
socio-economic status of the parents (Maaz, 2020).
2. PISA reading competence levels: Among 15-year-old
students, the higher reading competence levels, signifying
the ability to understand texts in detail, are predominantly
found in schools with an academic track (Weis et al., 2019).
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Literature Classes in DierentTypes of German Secondary Schools
Introduction
PISA: Levels of Reading Competence (Weis et al., 2019)
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Literature Classes in DierentTypes of German Secondary Schools
Introduction
Literary Reading/Learning
•Students from dierent social backgrounds possess varying
degrees of “cultural capital” (Bourdieu, 1983, p. 185, cf. Khakpour
and Mecheril, 2018). Cultural capital includes the ’possession’ of
literature:
a) materially
, b) immaterially as “knowledge, feelings,
and perceptions of what is considered significant, valuable, and
precious” (Bourdieu, 1983, p. 141) regarding literature.
•Literature education is supposed to fulfill a compensating
function (Hurrelmann & Elias 1998, Wrobel 2019).
•We suspect that Literary education seems not to achieve
this—rather, we assume that literature education (re)produces
social inequality.
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Literature Classes in DierentTypes of German Secondary Schools
Introduction
Goelitzer (2008, p. 305–306, transl.)
“[In the Hauptschule, literature classes] primarily yield to
the acquisition of semantic knowledge and a rather
unspecific world knowledge. From this perspective, the
literary text is not a distinct, explicitly literary object of
learning, but one of several possible objects, through
which students are meant to address their deficiencies in
semantics and to compensate for their lack of world
knowledge.”
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Literature Classes in DierentTypes of German Secondary Schools
Literature Classes in DierentTypes of Germans Secondary Schools: Two Exploratory Studies
Contents
Introduction
Literature Classes in Dierent Types of Germans Secondary
Schools: Two Exploratory Studies
A Quantifying Perspective on Learning Objectives
High-Level Comprehension of Literary Texts
Preliminary Conclusion

Literature Classes in DierentTypes of German Secondary Schools
Literature Classes in DierentTypes of Germans Secondary Schools: Two Exploratory Studies
Research Question
What are the dierences between literature classes in
various types of German secondary schools concerning
a) the learning objectives and b) the teaching quality?
9/32

Literature Classes in DierentTypes of German Secondary Schools
Literature Classes in DierentTypes of Germans Secondary Schools: Two Exploratory Studies
Research Question
What are the dierences between literature classes in
various types of German secondary schools concerning
a) the learning objectives and b) the teaching quality?
10/32

Literature Classes in DierentTypes of German Secondary Schools
Literature Classes in DierentTypes of Germans Secondary Schools: Two Exploratory Studies
A Quantifying Perspective on Learning Objectives
Contents
Introduction
Literature Classes in Dierent Types of Germans Secondary
Schools: Two Exploratory Studies
A Quantifying Perspective on Learning Objectives
High-Level Comprehension of Literary Texts
Preliminary Conclusion

Literature Classes in DierentTypes of German Secondary Schools
Literature Classes in DierentTypes of Germans Secondary Schools: Two Exploratory Studies
A Quantifying Perspective on Learning Objectives
Master’s Theses by Wolz (2022, unpublished) and
Bohne (in prep.)
•Wolz (2022) followed Witte & Sâmihăian (2013) and the
TAMoLi-Project by Pieper et al. (2020) when developing
categories for observing learning objectives in literature
classes.
•Wolz (2022) observed 20 literature classes at the Gymnasium
(each about 45min, grade 6–10, given by five teachers in 1
school) and 20 classes at the Realschule (each about 45min,
grade 6–10, 5 teachers, 2 schools)
•Bohne (in prep.) observed 17 lessons in the local equivalent to
the school type Hauptschule (grade 6–8, 3 teachers, 1 school).
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Literature Classes in DierentTypes of German Secondary Schools
Literature Classes in DierentTypes of Germans Secondary Schools: Two Exploratory Studies
A Quantifying Perspective on Learning Objectives
Categories of the Master’s Theses
AReading / Reading Comprehension
BAesthetic Eect
CLinguistic Paradigm
DCultural Paradigm
EPersonal Growth
FSocial Paradigm
GMedia Education
HRest/Others
12/32

Literature Classes in DierentTypes of German Secondary Schools
Literature Classes in DierentTypes of Germans Secondary Schools: Two Exploratory Studies
A Quantifying Perspective on Learning Objectives
Categories of the Master’s Theses
AReading / Reading Comprehension
BAesthetic Eect
CLinguistic Paradigm
DCultural Paradigm
EPersonal Growth
FSocial Paradigm
GMedia Education
ROthers
13/32

Literature Classes in DierentTypes of German Secondary Schools
Literature Classes in DierentTypes of Germans Secondary Schools: Two Exploratory Studies
A Quantifying Perspective on Learning Objectives
Categories of the Master’s Theses
AReading / Reading Comprehension
BAesthetic Eect
CLinguistic Paradigm
DCultural Paradigm
EPersonal Growth
FSocial Paradigm
GMedia Education
ROthers
14/32

Literature Classes in DierentTypes of German Secondary Schools
Literature Classes in DierentTypes of Germans Secondary Schools: Two Exploratory Studies
A Quantifying Perspective on Learning Objectives
Categories of the Master’s Theses
AReading / Reading Comprehension
BAesthetic Eect
CLinguistic Paradigm
DCultural Paradigm
EPersonal Growth
FSocial Paradigm
GMedia Education
ROthers
15/32
...
A2
Text Comprehension
...
A4 Reading Aloud by
the Students
...

Literature Classes in DierentTypes of German Secondary Schools
Literature Classes in DierentTypes of Germans Secondary Schools: Two Exploratory Studies
A Quantifying Perspective on Learning Objectives
Categories of the Master’s Theses
AReading / Reading Comprehension
BAesthetic Eect
CLinguistic Paradigm
DCultural Paradigm
EPersonal Growth
FSocial Paradigm
GMedia Education
ROthers
16/32
B1 Reading Aloud by
the Teacher
...
B3 Aesthetic
Experience with
Hands-On Practices
...

Literature Classes in DierentTypes of German Secondary Schools
Literature Classes in DierentTypes of Germans Secondary Schools: Two Exploratory Studies
A Quantifying Perspective on Learning Objectives
Categories of the Master’s Theses
AReading / Reading Comprehension
BAesthetic Eect
CLinguistic Paradigm
DCultural Paradigm
EPersonal Growth
FSocial Paradigm
GMedia Education
ROthers
17/32
...
C2 Recognizing and
Interpreting Figures
like Metaphors,
Symbols, ...
...

Literature Classes in DierentTypes of German Secondary Schools
Literature Classes in DierentTypes of Germans Secondary Schools: Two Exploratory Studies
A Quantifying Perspective on Learning Objectives
18/32

Literature Classes in DierentTypes of German Secondary Schools
Literature Classes in DierentTypes of Germans Secondary Schools: Two Exploratory Studies
High-Level Comprehension of LiteraryTexts
Contents
Introduction
Literature Classes in Dierent Types of Germans Secondary
Schools: Two Exploratory Studies
A Quantifying Perspective on Learning Objectives
High-Level Comprehension of Literary Texts
Preliminary Conclusion

Literature Classes in DierentTypes of German Secondary Schools
Literature Classes in DierentTypes of Germans Secondary Schools: Two Exploratory Studies
High-Level Comprehension of LiteraryTexts
Research Question
What are the dierences between literature classes in
various types of German secondary schools concerning
a) the learning objectives and b) the teaching quality?
19/32

Literature Classes in DierentTypes of German Secondary Schools
Literature Classes in DierentTypes of Germans Secondary Schools: Two Exploratory Studies
High-Level Comprehension of LiteraryTexts
The GefoeLit-Studies
•qualitative and quantitative Analyses of 15 literature
classes consisting of students aged 12 to 15.
•Derivation of the concept “High-Level Comprehension in
the Literature Classroom” (Magirius et al., in prep.) from
this data, Literary Theory and Task Research.
20/32

Literature Classes in DierentTypes of German Secondary Schools
Literature Classes in DierentTypes of Germans Secondary Schools: Two Exploratory Studies
High-Level Comprehension of LiteraryTexts
High-Level Comprehension (Magirius et al., in prep.)
“[W]e understand high-level comprehension in the
literature classroom primarily as deliberating about
testable and disputable questions that are resulting from
the systematic polyvalence, ambiguity, uncertainty, and
indirectness of literary texts (Zabka, 2006).”
A question is testable, if we can find elements of the text which
help to answer it.
A question is disputable, if it allows for a competition of
multiple answers.
21/32

Literature Classes in DierentTypes of German Secondary Schools
Literature Classes in DierentTypes of Germans Secondary Schools: Two Exploratory Studies
High-Level Comprehension of LiteraryTexts
High-Level Comprehension (Magirius et al., in prep.)
“[W]e understand high-level comprehension in the
literature classroom primarily as deliberating about
testable and disputable questions that are resulting from
the systematic polyvalence, ambiguity, uncertainty, and
indirectness of literary texts (Zabka, 2006).”
A question is testable, if we can find elements of the text which
help to answer it.
A question is disputable, if it allows for a competition of
multiple answers.
22/32

Literature Classes in DierentTypes of German Secondary Schools
Literature Classes in DierentTypes of Germans Secondary Schools: Two Exploratory Studies
High-Level Comprehension of LiteraryTexts
High-Level Comprehension (Magirius et al., in prep.)
“[W]e understand high-level comprehension in the
literature classroom primarily as deliberating about
testable and disputable questions that are resulting from
the systematic polyvalence, ambiguity, uncertainty, and
indirectness of literary texts (Zabka, 2006).”
A question is testable, if we can find elements of the text which
help to answer it.
A question is disputable, if it allows for a competition of
multiple answers.
23/32

Literature Classes in DierentTypes of German Secondary Schools
Literature Classes in DierentTypes of Germans Secondary Schools: Two Exploratory Studies
High-Level Comprehension of LiteraryTexts
High-Level Comprehension (Magirius et al., in prep.)
“[W]e understand high-level comprehension in the
literature classroom primarily as deliberating about
testable and disputable questions that are resulting from
the systematic polyvalence, ambiguity, uncertainty, and
indirectness of literary texts (Zabka, 2006).”
A question is testable, if we can find elements of the text which
help to answer it.
A question is disputable, if it allows for a competition of
multiple answers.
24/32

Literature Classes in DierentTypes of German Secondary Schools
Literature Classes in DierentTypes of Germans Secondary Schools: Two Exploratory Studies
High-Level Comprehension of LiteraryTexts
Two Classes
In the following: Comparison of two classes about an excerpt
from the young adult novel “Park of Shards”. In this excerpt,
the narrator is a 17 year old girl deliberating about the life
goals and life chances of her and her friends.
1.
Class of a Gymnasium: Students write down their life goals,
compare their dreams to the ones of the characters in the
novel and look for hints about life chances in the text.
2. Class of an Integrated School: Teacher reads text aloud,
information about events and characters are gathered and
presented, discussion about the impact of the social
environment on life chances.
25/32

Literature Classes in DierentTypes of German Secondary Schools
Literature Classes in DierentTypes of Germans Secondary Schools: Two Exploratory Studies
High-Level Comprehension of LiteraryTexts
Share of Disputable Questions among Testable
Questions
26/32

Literature Classes in DierentTypes of German Secondary Schools
Literature Classes in DierentTypes of Germans Secondary Schools: Two Exploratory Studies
High-Level Comprehension of LiteraryTexts
Two Classes—Students’ Perspective
•At the end of each lesson, the students filled out
questionnaires in which they evaluated the literary text
and the classroom discussion.
•For each item, they could choose between “does not
apply”, “applies somewhat”, “applies mostly”, and “applies
completely”.
•Four Scales were build.
•Calculating the average for each scale and comparing the
values between Class 1 and Class 2 results in the following
this figure.
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Literature Classes in DierentTypes of German Secondary Schools
Literature Classes in DierentTypes of Germans Secondary Schools: Two Exploratory Studies
High-Level Comprehension of LiteraryTexts
28/32

Literature Classes in DierentTypes of German Secondary Schools
Literature Classes in DierentTypes of Germans Secondary Schools: Two Exploratory Studies
High-Level Comprehension of LiteraryTexts
29/32
Scale “Engagement”: α≈.51,ri,Sc > .35,pH≈.002
Example Item: I enjoyed discussing the text with my
classmates.

Literature Classes in DierentTypes of German Secondary Schools
Literature Classes in DierentTypes of Germans Secondary Schools: Two Exploratory Studies
High-Level Comprehension of LiteraryTexts
29/32
Scale “Appeal”: α≈.85,ri,Sc > .63,pF≈.6
Example Item: I like the text.

Literature Classes in DierentTypes of German Secondary Schools
Literature Classes in DierentTypes of Germans Secondary Schools: Two Exploratory Studies
High-Level Comprehension of LiteraryTexts
29/32
Scale “Emotion”: α≈.51,ri,Sc > .35,pH≈.002
Example Item: I was able to feel into the text.

Literature Classes in DierentTypes of German Secondary Schools
Literature Classes in DierentTypes of Germans Secondary Schools: Two Exploratory Studies
High-Level Comprehension of LiteraryTexts
29/32
Scale “Comprehension”: α≈.61,ri,Sc > .32,pF≈.61
Example Item: The discussion helped me to under-
stand the text better.

Literature Classes in DierentTypes of German Secondary Schools
Literature Classes in DierentTypes of Germans Secondary Schools: Two Exploratory Studies
High-Level Comprehension of LiteraryTexts
Two Classes
Therefore, we believe that in particular student-oriented
learning objectives are less likely to be achieved with Class 2
compared to Class 1.
30/32

Literature Classes in DierentTypes of German Secondary Schools
Preliminary Conclusion
Contents
Introduction
Literature Classes in Dierent Types of Germans Secondary
Schools: Two Exploratory Studies
Preliminary Conclusion

Literature Classes in DierentTypes of German Secondary Schools
Preliminary Conclusion
Preliminary Conclusion
•We have indications that literature education achieves its
associated goals to a lesser extent in schools without an
academic track.
•Contemporary concepts of the (German) academic
discourse on literature education appear to be less
compatible with literature education in these schools.
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Literature Classes in DierentTypes of German Secondary Schools
Preliminary Conclusion
Next Steps
We aim to gain further insights into how literature education
works in various types of schools by:
•Constructing an observation instrument based on Hesse
(in prep.) and Magirius et al. (2021). This instrument will
enable us to assess both the learning objectives and the
quality of teaching in literature classes.
•Creating a user-friendly digital diary, asking teachers to
report how they allocate their time in a L1 class over a
six-week period.
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Literature Classes in DierentTypes of German Secondary Schools
End
References I
Bourdieu, P. (1983). “Ökonomisches Kapital,kulturelles Kapital,soziales Kapital”. In:
Soziale Ungleichheiten. Ed. and trans. by R. Kreckel. Göttingen: Schwartz,
pp. 183–198.
Gölitzer, S. (2008). Wozu Literatur lesen? Der Beitrag des Literaturunterrichts zur
literarischen Sozialisation von Hauptschülerinnen und Hauptschülern.url:
https://opus.ph-heidelberg.de/frontdoor/deliver/index/docId/24/file/
Goelitzer_Habil_2008.pdf
.
Hurrelmann, B. & S. Elias (1998). “Leseförderung in einer Medienkultur”. In: Praxis
Deutsch – Sonderheft, pp. 3–7.
Khakpour, N. & P. Mecheril (2018). “Klasse oder die Moralisierung des Scheiterns”. In:
Heterogenität und Bildung. Die Schule der Migrationsgesellschaft. Ed. by İ. Dirim
& P. Mecheril. Bad Heilbronn: Klinkhardt, pp. 133–158.
Maaz, K. (2020). Soziale Ungleichheiten in den einzelnen Bildungsbereichen.url:
https://www.bpb.de
.
Magirius, M., D. Scherf, & M. Steinmetz (2021). “Lernförderliche Gespräche im
Literaturunterricht. Zur Identifikation klärungswürdiger Fragen und
lernunterstützenden Lehrerhandelns.”. In: Leseräume 2.
Weis, M. et al., (2019). “PISA 2018. Grundbildung im internationalen Vergleich”. In:
ed. by K. Reiss et al., Münster: Waxmann, pp. 47–78.

Literature Classes in DierentTypes of German Secondary Schools
End
References II
Witte, T. C. H. & F. Sâmihăian (2013). “Is Europe open to a student-oriented framework
for literature? A comparative analysis of the formal literature curriculum in six
European countries.”. In: L1-Educational Studies in Language and Literature 13,
pp. 1–22. url:
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED562558.pdf
(visited on
08/04/2019).
Wrobel, D. (2019). Literarische Sozialisation.url:
https://www.kinderundjugendmedien.de/index.php/fachdidaktik/3345%C2%
ADliterarische%C2%ADsozialisation
.
Zabka, T. (2006). “Typische Operationen literarischen Verstehens. Zu Martin Luther
‚Vom Raben und Fuchs‘ (5./6. Schuljahr)”. In: Literarische Kompetenzen –
Standards im Literaturunterricht. Ed. by C. Kammler. Seelze: Kallmeyer,
pp. 80–101.

Literature Classes in DierentTypes of German Secondary Schools
End
Thank you for your attention!

Literature Classes in DierentTypes of German Secondary Schools
End
Contact Information
Marco Magirius
Free University of Berlin
www.marcomagirius.de
marco.magirius@fu-berlin.de
Daniel Scherf
Heidelberg University of Education

ph-heidelberg.de/scherf-daniel/
scherf@ph-heidelberg.de
Link to the Slides: